Paul on ACA compromise: 'Maybe'

Sen. Rand Paul acknowledged Monday the uphill battle for Republicans looking to fully defund Obamcare and said “there could be a compromise in the middle.”

“The president wants 100 percent of Obamacare, we want zero. Maybe we make it less bad through a compromise. So if the Republicans in the House pass defund, Democrats in the Senate continue to fund, maybe there could be a compromise in the middle where we get some rid of the taxes, and get rid of some of the bad parts of Obamacare,” Paul (R-Ky.) said on Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”

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Paul, who said he won’t vote to fund Obamacare, called it a disaster and said “we shouldn’t give it a penny.” He said he will start off by trying to defund it, but knows that it will not likely happen.

“Well, what I’ve said is defunding Obamacare is where we should start. That’s what we’re for, that’s what the people who voted for us are for. But the thing is, we may not get everything we want, so I acknowledge that” Paul said.

When asked if a compromise was possible, Paul said “maybe” if there was a “very quick conference committee” between Republicans and Democrats.

“Maybe, maybe, but you have to have a very quick conference committee, leadership, on the Republican side and Democrats that would have to come together and say we are willing to compromise and we have a conference committee,” Paul said.

Paul’s comments echo earlier sentiments from this weekend that the GOP’s efforts to defund Obamcare won’t likely succeed, but may lead to a compromise. POLITICO reported earlier that other possible routes to compromise that Paul suggested are getting rid of the medical-device tax, delaying individual mandate and changing how the law deals with insurance for part-time workers.

While on Fox News, Paul also spoke of a plan to push through an amendment that would eliminate the exception that gives lawmakers and staff subsidies to pay for their health insurance.